What I learned at the 50th EHMA General Meeting (and which gives me confidence in the future of our industry)

There is so much to say about the European Hotel Managers Association that I particularly admire. Each GM embodies the values of hospitality with perfect excellence, when generosity is omnipresent with elegance and discretion. There's nothing showy about the Association. On the contrary, everyone does their utmost to defend, promote and encourage Hospitality with a capital H.

The Association held its 50th General Meeting in Venice, and it was an exciting three days, which I'd like to tell you more about.

This year's theme, human capital, between attractiveness and retention, was tackled with frankness, transparency and stimulating reflection. This was reflected in the discussions on the GM profession and the attractiveness of the sector between two young graduates of the EHL Hospitality Business School, a partner of the event, and Ezio Indiani and Panagiotis (Panos) Almyrantis , seasoned GMs and presidents of EHMA. A gripping and passionate discussion between two ways of looking at one's professional life, between reason and passion.

Christoph Steindorf , Leader Business Development Europe and Corporate Accounts Healthcare of Diversey, spoke to us about the importance of sincerity when it comes to CSR within the company. If newcomers realise that the reality doesn't match up with the company's presentation, they won't stay.

Antoinette Dale Henderson FPSA PCC , Executive Coach & Founder of The Gravitas Programme, emphasised the importance of the trio of salary, flexibility and CSR in candidates' decision-making. She particularly stressed the need to communicate both internally and in the media about the actions of GMs: trust and authenticity are essential. Antoinette also stressed the need for consistency between speeches and reality. Finally, she outlined what teams expect from today's leaders.

The General Managers then had their attention riveted by an informative debate on the new and future trends influencing employees' professional and private lives. What, in concrete terms, are people looking for today? Here again, authenticity, flexibility, the meaning of work, CSR, personal development and consistency between rhetoric and reality all featured in the discussions. The importance of middle management was also mentioned as a crucial factor in retention. Reaching out to middle and high school students is also a key element in presenting our businesses and triggering interest if not vocations. It was also pointed out that employees are our first customers, and that it's a good idea to use the two three principles of customer relations with them as with hotel guests.

The debate then moved on to the tourism sector, with some fascinating speakers sharing the problems they were also encountering in recruiting and retaining staff. Having a narrative that speaks to the expectations of the younger generation, supporting them in their need for mobility, getting them to return afterwards, listening to them talk about their frustrations, their dreams, the questions they ask themselves, training managers (so essential)... all crucial subjects on which the feedback was interesting and replicable in our industry.

As every year, the time came to talk about the essential and fantastic initiative of the Psychological Growth programme set up by Marco Truffelli GMBPsS FIH MI , Co-owner and Managing Director of Rufflets St Andrews, and Dr Dr Jan Ferris , both co-founders of RESILIRE - Psychological Growth. Their mission is to develop the future of emerging leaders in the hospitality sector through their personal development. Each year, Marco and Jan provide support to 12 young future leaders, identified in their hotels by GMs from the association. This support strengthens their human skills and confidence by listening to and discussing the situations they face in their hotels. The testimonies of these young managers show that they are becoming more self-confident, and that they are also taking a step back from their professional lives and the balance that is so important with their personal lives. During this moving session, we heard the words listening, authenticity and adaptability. Well done to Marco, Jan and the 12 fine personalities who took part in this remarkable work.

Petros Papageorgiou , On - Premise Sales Director Heineken Italy, then came on stage to talk about the contribution of beer to education... A surprising theme at first glance. A fascinating presentation on the implementation in the Netherlands of a partnership between bars, Heineken and major Dutch companies to promote attractiveness. We'll be talking about this in a future article.

Finally, the day ended with a talk by rugby legend John Kirwan on the sensitive subject of mental health. Our own and that of our colleagues and staff. Sir Kirwan gave us the keys to calm down, settle down and put things into perspective.

Panos Almyrantis, President of EHMA, concluded this intense day by talking about all the emotions we had felt throughout the sessions and all that we had learnt, emphasising that the General Managers had benefited from an educational day very rich in ideas, feedback and crucial information, which they could then take back to their hotels and apply touch by touch, in their own methods and in the different departments, what they had found most interesting.

In the evening, leading figures in the industry were honoured for their work and dedication:

• Pedro Pinto, the General Manager of Corpo Santo Lisbon Historical Hotel, has been awarded the prestigious 2024 EHMA Sustainability Award by Diversey.
• Michael Gray receives the EHMA “Hans Koch Lifetime Achievement Award” 2024
• Alessio Lazazzera, General Manager, Excelsior Venice, is the "European Hotel Manager of the Year 2024" who spoke about his life long dream to become a General Manager of an iconic hotel.

Thank you Valentina, Manuela, Panos, and all the members, GMs and partners I met during my three days in Venice. Like every year since 2018, I have come away from your General Meeting happy, energised, motivated to continue our work with the luxury hotel industry, and inspired to see so many wonderful, passionate and determined people. It's an incredible opportunity to be here with you for this event 🙏

To all GMs who are not a member of EHMA yet and who share the same values: contact the delegate in your country to join the finest association in the world, where you'll find support, exchanges, ideas and energy! For France, please contact Michel COTTRAY !

See you next year in Warsaw under the leadership of Pawel Lewtak, MBA ! I'm planning to combine a trip to the royal city of Kraków 😍 and a visit to some of the places I've seen in the many Polish series on Netflix 😉